Safety helmet head suspension



June 23, 1964 T. ZBIKOWSKI 3,137,859

SAFETY HELMET HEAD SUSPENSION Filed Oct. 10, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR. 7E0 ZfiIA'OWS/(l BY (44 fflkm M June 23, 1964 T. ZBIKOWSKISAFETY HELMET HEAD SUSPENSION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 10, 1962 0 onI U K E INVENTOR, 7'50 Z8/KOW5/(4 ,4 rraer/e/s United States Patent3,137,859 SAFETY HELMET HEAD SUSPENSIQN Ted Zbikowski, Detroit, Mich,assignor to Joseph Buegeleisen Co., Southfield, Mich. Filed Oct. 10,1962, Ser. No. 229,573 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-3) This invention relates to asafety helmet head suspension.

Objects of this invention are to provide a safety helmet head suspensionwhich is removably secured to the helmet shell, which is readilyadjustable in size to fit various size heads, and which is formed todistribute loads at four wide zones along the top and sides of the humanskull and around the horizontal circumference of the skull to thus avoidlocalized impacts and thereby protect the head.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following description of which the attacheddrawings form a part.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the helmet.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 22 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken as if in the directionof arrows 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the rear section of the headband andFIG. 5 is an elevational view of the front section of the headband.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the head supporting cradle, per se.

The helmet 10 is formed of an inverted bowl-shaped, hard, outerprotective shell 11 having a resilient edge bead 12 and an inner,relatively thick, resilient liner 13 secured to the inner wall of theshell. The liner may be formed of a resilient plastic material such asfoamed polystyrene or the like.

Arranged within the shell is a head-supporting suspension or cradle 14which is formed of a headband consisting of a front section 15 and arear section 16 formed of a relatively thin, resilient but stiff sheetmaterial such as polyethylene plastic sheet or the like of about .040 ofan inch in thickness, thus being stiff but still resiliently bendable orspringy.

The opposite ends of the front part 15 are provided with pairs of malesnap fastener halves 18 arranged to snap fit within pairs of openings 19when the opposite ends of the front and rear sections are overlapped.The openings 19 are of a sufficient diameter and depth to function asfemale snap fastener halves.

Each of the headband sections or parts are provided with integralupwardly extending tabs 22 whose upper ends are horizontally widened at23 and connected by narrowed portions 24 to their respective headbandparts. Each tab has a male snap fastener half 25 secured thereto, whichfastener half also secures a cloth loop band 26 to the respective tab.

As shown in FIG. 3, female snap fastener halves 27 are secured to theliner 13 at locations corresponding to the locations of the tab fastenerhalves 25 for interconnecting therewith. Also, the looped bands 26 areinterconnected by a string or cord 28.

The size of the headband is adjusted by overlapping the respective endsof the headband parts and securing the snap fastener halves 18 withinthe particular holes 19 3,137,859 Patented June 23, 1964 "ice whichprovide the desired circumferential size to fit the head of the wearer.The cord 28, being knotted and passing through the loops 26 can beadjusted in length for proper fitting. In this manner, the cradle can beeasily adjusted to the size of the wearers head before connecting itwithin the shell. Then the tab snap fasteners 25 are engaged with theliner fastener halves 27 so that the headband is connected to the helmetshell at four locations and is otherwise free of connection to theshell. When the headband becomes dirty or damaged, it can be easilyreplaced while preserving the relatively expensive shell and liner forreuse.

The arrangement of the tabs including their widened upper ends resultsin distributing impact loads over four wide zones of the head as well ascircumferentially, thus preventing localized impact to the skull.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of thefollowing claims. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoingdescription be read as being merely illustrative of an operativeembodiment of this invention and not in a strictly limiting sense.

I now claim:

1. A safety helmet comprising an inverted bowl-shaped shell having aforward end and a rear end and a head supporting cradle arranged withinthe shell, the cradle comprising a substantially horizontally arrangedhead band adapted to encircle and closely receive a human head and beingformed of a thin, stifl", but relatively resilient sheet material; saidhead band having a forward pair and a rear pair of oppositely alignedintegral tabs, each tab extending upwardly above the upper edge of thehead band a considerable distance and being widened in a horizontaldirection at its upper end and being integrally connected to the headband by a narrow portion, the widened portions of the two pairs of tabsbeing adapted to contact the human head at locations relatively close tothe top thereof; a snap fastener half secured upon the widened portionof each of said tabs and being normally connected to a correspondingsnap fastener half secured to the shell, the four snap fasteners formingthe only connection between the cradle and the shell; each tab having acloth loop permanently secured thereto by its respective snap fastenerhalf, the free ends of the four loops being joined together by a cordpassing through each of them, the loops thus forming upper extensions ofthe tabs to form the upper portion of the cradle and being adapted torest upon the upper portion of the human head.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1 and including the narrowedportions of the two tabs of each pair of tabs being relatively close toeach other, with the widened portions thereof extending horizontallyaway from each other and with said snap fastener halves each beinglocated approximately centrally of its respective tab widened portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,706,294 Sprinkle Apr. 19, 1955 2,855,605 Aileo Oct. 14, 1958 3,015,103Zbikowski Jan. 2, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 249,441 Great Britain Mar. 25,1926 154,042 Sweden Apr. 10, 1956

1. A SAFETY HELMET COMPRISING AN INVERTED BOWL-SHAPED SHELL HAVING AFORWARD END AND A REAR END AND A HEAD SUPPORTING CRADLE ARRANGED WITHINTHE SHELL, THE CRADLE COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY ARRANGEDHEAD BAND ADAPTED TO ENCIRCLE AND CLOSELY RECEIVE A HUMAN HEAD AND BEINGFORMED OF A THIN, STIFF, BUT RELATIVELY RESILIENT SHEET MATERIAL; SAIDHEAD BAND HAVING A FORWARD PAIR AND A REAR PAIR OF OPPOSITELY ALIGNEDINTEGRAL TABS, EACH TAB EXTENDING UPWARDLY ABOVE THE UPPER EDGE OF THEHEAD BAND A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE AND BEING WIDENED IN A HORIZONTALDIRECTION AT ITS UPPER END AND BEING INTEGRALLY CONNECTED TO THE HEADBAND BY A NARROW PORTION, THE WIDENED PORTIONS OF THE TWO PAIRS OF TABSBEING ADAPTED TO CONTACT THE HUMAN HEAD AT LOCATIONS RELATIVELY CLOSE TOTHE TOP THEREOF; A SNAP FASTENER HALF SECURED UPON THE WIDENED PORTIONOF EACH OF SAID TABS AND BEING NORMALLY CONNECTED TO A CORRESPONDINGSNAP FASTENER HALF SECURED TO THE SHELL, THE FOUR SNAP FASTENERS FORMINGTHE ONLY CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CRADLE AND THE SHELL; EACH TAB HAVING ACLOTH LOOP PERMANENTLY SECURED THERETO BY ITS RESPECTIVE SNAP FASTENERHALF, THE FREE ENDS OF THE FOUR LOOPS BEING JOINED TOGETHER BY A CORDPASSING THROUGH EACH OF THEM, THE LOOPS THUS FORMING UPPER EXTENSIONS OFTHE TABS TO FORM THE UPPER PORTION OF THE CRADLE AND BEING ADAPTED TOREST UPON THE UPPER PORTION OF THE HUMAN HEAD.